Research Interests:

My laboratory is involved in a project to develop the means to physically map
and isolate genes of interest. We are adapting techniques that will allow us to
identify the chromosomal location and DNA sequence of the gene that when mutated
causes a hairless phenotype in the rat as well as a gene that causes male
sterility in the mouse. Our ultimate goal is to decipher the nature of the
mutation and to use this information to understand the role of the gene’s
product in normal development.

We are also currently involved in an NIH-funded research project studying the
mechanism by which DNA is accurately passed on to bacterial cells when those
cells divide. We intend to create mutations in a protein necessary for this
process to work and to study the effect of these mutations on the process.